Reasons for the Seasons

What causes the seasons, eclipses, tides and the phases of the moon?

How does the tilt of Earth’s axis affect the light received by Earth as it revolves around the sun?

Hypothesis: I think the tilt of Earth’s axis has something to do with the seasons, because when one side is tilted closer to the sun it is warmer and it is receiving more sun than at winter, because in winter the axis is tilted further away from the sun. However in summer the axis tilts towards the sun making the distance shorter than in winter. Also, when we will shine the light to the Earth, in the middle the light will be the strongest and it will get worse on the sides because it is getting closer to night.

Observation:

As we shined the flashlight to the model of the Earth, in the middle it was the strongest because that is where day would be, on right/left the light was not as powerful because it represented that night was coming, and on the opposite side of the Earth there was no light at all meaning it was night and no sun was reaching it.  When you shine light into the little paper with grids to the Earth, in the middle there were squares because the light was concentrating on them, but on the sides the squares had to stretch out into rectangles. This is why the equator is hot, because most of the light goes there.

As we tilted the Earth with the toothpick, when the toothpick was on the other side, there was no shadow, but when it was tilted toward the sun (summer) the shadow was very long and it followed its object, however when we changed the position of Earth to represent winter, the shadows became very short and small.

In Summer: (You can see the light is the most powerful in the middle)

 

Summer: During summer, when the axis is tilted towards the sun, shadows are longer and it is warmer because of the distance between the sun and the Earth. Also, the concentration of the sun is very powerful at the equator during summer, but moves around the earth and provides all the places with light; however the North Pole in summer gets a lot of light as well because of the tilt facing the sun. ( It is summer when the Earth is tilted towards the sun)

Winter: when the earth is tilted further away from the sun, the south poles receive more light than in summer; however it is not as warm because the Earth is further away. (It is winter when the Earth is tilted away from the sun)

This is just showing how in the middle the sun shines the most and on the sides the squares spread out. Because of the uneven tilt of the Earth, the poles don’t get an even amount of sunlight, and the concentration of the sun changes according to the way the Earth is tilted. If the Earth was not tilted, there would be no summer nor winter, only spring and autumn, in other words dry and wet times. 


How are the amounts of heat and light received in a square related to the angle of the suns rays?
 If you shine a flashlight to a Earth shaped shape, and you hold a paper with squares in between, in the middle, squares will appear and the light will be the most powerful,  however on the sides rectangular shapes form because they light is stretching them out. Because of the angle of the Earth, most of the sunlight is received by the equator which is why it is the warmest there. If the Earth wasn't tilted we would have no seasons, only dry and wet times. Last of all, the angle the light is pointing to will be where most of the sun will be received, and on the sides the amounts decrease.


Use your observations of an Earth-sun model to write an explanation of what causes the season. Seasons change because of the uneven tilt of the Earth and the way sun rays are received. Because the Earth rotates and has a revolution around the sun, as it tilts, different parts of the Earth get sun, however when it is further away from the sun, it is colder, which is why we get winter and our shadows are shorter. Also, since the Earth is tilted, during our summer the North Poles receive more sunlight than in winter, however with the South Poles it is the other way around. We have day and night because Earth rotates on its axis, and we have seasons because Earth orbits around the sun and at different stages it gets different weather.